Systemic Lupus Case Study

The possible etiology of Systemic Lupus Erythematous for Miss MC is her positive familial history of autoimmune disease as evidenced by her father having rheumatoid arthritis. It is said that genetic factors increase the possibility of developing autoimmune diseases. Moreover, autoimmune diseases such as lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, and autoimmune thyroid disorders are more common among relatives of people with lupus than the general population. (1) Though SLE and RA are different kind of autoimmune diseases, the presence of such disease in the genetic make-up that runs in a family is enough to develop an autoimmune disease. It is because according to the study of van der Linden et al, the autoantibodies present on the patients and their family plus relatives are not reactive against on the same type of nuclear antigens.
This possibility is also supported by the study of Alarcón-Segovia et al which is the Familial aggregation of systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, and other autoimmune diseases in 1,177 lupus patients from the GLADEL cohort. In this study they were able to determine that there is a familial aggregation of Systemic Lupus Erythematous and of Rheumatoid Arthritis in SLE patients. This was supported by their research results wherein 166 (14.1%) of their SLE patients had relatives with an autoimmune disease (SLE, RA, autoimmune thyroiditis, or other), and 42 of 166 patients (25%) had at least 2 relatives with an autoimmune disease (the same or different ones); 1 patient had 5 affected relatives (4 first-degree [2 with RA, 1 with SLE, 1 with autoimmune thyroiditis] and 1 third-degree [RA]). Furthermore under an earlier, smaller study they found out that those patients with Systemic Erythematous have family histories of autoimmune disease, including SLE (18%), RA (11%), and Hashimoto thyroiditis